By Kizito Makoye DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania | 19 July 2024 (IDN) — Absa Samba, a prominent Gambian activist, exhaled a sigh of relief when the Gambian lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected a controversial bill that would have lifted a ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a barbaric practice that had inflicted indelible psychological scars on her […]
Paul Kagame of Rwanda Returned to Power for a Fourth Term
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 16 July 2024 (IDN) — A battery of threats, arbitrary detention, prosecution on trumped-up charges, killings and enforced disappearances were deployed by the Rwandese President Paul Kagame in the recent presidential election that offered no surprises. In the ballots counted so far, Kagame and his ruling […]
The Gambia Decides to Uphold Ban on FGM — UN Agencies Commend
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK | 15 July 2024 (IDN) — The vote by the National Assembly of The Gambia to uphold the ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), reaffirming its commitments to human rights, gender equality, and protecting the health and well-being of girls and women, has been commended by UN agencies. FGM involves […]
Wole Soyinka Marks His 90th Armed with Convictions
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 16 July 2024 (IDN) — Poet, playwright, essayist, memoirist, activist and novelist, Nigerian Wole Soyinka is known not only for his many books and book prizes, time spent in jail, and knowledge of African history, but for the wisdom he crafted in a simple phrase: “Wake […]
Financing Africa: Where Is the Money? – A New Report
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 9 July 2024 (IDN) — “Don’t take Africa for granted.” Those are the words of Mohamed “Mo” Ibrahim, head of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation that provides an African voice on current global challenges. Founded in 2006, with headquarters in London and Dakar, Senegal, the foundation works […]
South African Parliamentarian Stripped of Post Over Taped Racist Rant
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 8 July 2024 (IDN) — A recently sworn-in member of the South African parliament has been suspended for using racist language against Black people. The suspension of Renaldo Gouws of the white-led Democratic Alliance (DA) highlights the uneasy alliance between the DA and its governing coalition […]
LGBTQ+ Activists Win Landmark Judgment from Namibian High Court
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 8 July 2024 (IDN) — Namibia’s high court has overturned a law that criminalized gay sex. The ruling is a victory for LGBTQ+ activists after a number of setbacks in the battle for rights in African countries in recent years. Namibia inherited a law banning sodomy […]
Mauritanian Security Forces Linked to Post-Election Fatalities
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 8 July 2024 (IDN) — Mauritanian security forces were linked to post-election violence and at least three deaths after the victory of incumbent Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani this past weekend. According to the Interior Ministry, rioting, looting and vandalism broke out in southern Mauritania after […]
Africa Will Not Shed a Tear at The Departure of Rishi Sunak
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book Writing for Media and Monetising It. ABUJA | 3 July 2024 (IDN) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak came to the job as an afterthought, yet his days in Number 10 were numbered before he received the ceremonial blessings […]
Africa’s Consequential Role in Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 3 July 2024 (IDN) — As one of the five Nuclear-Weapon Free Zones (NWFZs) covering Latin America and the Caribbean, South Pacific, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia, Africa has been a driving force in nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament—through the Treaty of Pelindaba—which entered into force on 15 July 2009 The […]